Midget submarines made in Italy, tailored to the Gulf needs

Following 15 years of investments in technology
Drass, an Italian SMI based in Livorno, started working on the hull of its new
DG160 midget submarine. While the company HQ, administrative offices and
research and development offices are based in the Tuscany city, construction
and welding activities are realized in Timisoara, Romania, due the high capabilities
and works quality.

The company is also active in the Swimmer
Delivery Vehicle (SDV) field, in hyperbaric chambers both for operational and
medical purposes and in the submarines’ rescue systems. In the latter field
Drass is proposing unmanned solutions in order to improve the speed of action
as well as the number of personnel transported in each trip.

In the past the company sold its midget
submarines to different nations. New technologies allow improving performances of
the on board’s systems, maintaining the reduced dimensions, something that is
highly appreciated when operating in coastal or shallow waters such as in the
Gulf region, where depth goes rarely beyond 70 meters.

Not only, the crew of those submarines is highly
reduced compared to conventional ones: the DG160 has a complement of only nine
compared to the 40 people usually manning a standard diesel-electric submarine,
something making affordable a sub fleet also to smaller navies where manpower
is an issue.

The acquisition cost is also lower, with a 1:6 ratio being suggested by Drass. Submarines like the DG160
can be used for different missions, special forces infiltration – the DG160 can
carry six of them – mine release, intelligence, as well as, of course,
deterrence.

The DG160 can be armed with up to four 533 mm
wire guided heavy torpedoes, the boat sailing with them already loaded in the
launch tubes in order to spare space; these are located two in the bow while
the two optional are in the flank. When a Special Forces Team is on board the
usual load is of only two heavy torpedoes, one SDV being fitted on deck, while
for mining operations the DG160 can carry up to six mines; to this end Drass
developed a solution for maintaining a neutral asset when releasing the mines.

Drass considers that in nowadays warfare
scenarios, a submarine might not always need to destroy its targets, therefore
it is studying the installation of a launch tube for 324 mm
light torpedoes that might be used to incapacitate rather than sinking the target
ship.

It is 35.15 meters long, 6.45 meters high and
4.12 meters wide, the hull diameter being 2.50 meters; the Drass DG160 has a
dry displacement of 141 tonnes and a ready to dive displacement of 169 tonnes. The
propulsion system is made of four battery banks, two diesel generators, one
electric motor and one snorkel system.

It can reach a maximum submerged speed of 10
knots, while the cruising speed (snorting and submerged) is 5 knots, with an
endurance of 2.000 nautical miles, the range on batteries only propulsion being
of 160 NM. The maximum operational depth is 150 meters.

The declared indiscretion rate, the ratio
between the time of greater vulnerability and the total operating time, is of
17% at cruising speed. The DG160 leverages the 160 tonnes displacement previous
submarine made by Drass, the first of class is being built at Timisoara, after
the expressions of interest received from different customers.

A 1:1 mock-up is available in Livorno for
measurements and subsystems integration tests. The new DG160 follows current NATO
standards and is thus fitted with two hatches and an improved lock-out system
for Special Forces release.

No dates were provided for the launch and the potential delivery of the DG160 first of class, while it is unclear when the DG450, a 40 meters long boat with a 3 meters hull diameter carrying a crew of nine plus 12 Special Forces operators, will eventually step from computer drawings to reality, the company probably waiting for a launch customer.